Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem Review

A surprisingly entertaining sci-fi adventure that is sure to sustain interest in the crossover franchise.

There are really so many different ways to review Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem that perhaps the best approach is the least likely one -- namely, to say that it's actually a pretty entertaining movie. Essentially a cinematic mix tape of favorite moments from the two film series, there is little in the erstwhile sequel-cum-reboot of the crossover franchise that will likely attract new viewers, but it's certain to appeal to anyone who knows either the Aliens or Predator films; in short, this is exactly the movie for which fans have been waiting. At the same time, it's a fairly crass and clumsy way to rejuvenate the auteur-driven artistry of the former series, or even the broad, muscular appeal of the latter, but all in all there's precious little to criticize in a film that manages to be quite so ridiculously entertaining, in the process surpassing its predecessor by a wide margin.

The film opens with a montage of sights and sounds from both franchises, heralding a return to the form (if not content) that fans have loved for decades: the deep, resonating brass of James Horner's Aliens score, the tribal percussion of his Predator theme, and the font of both series' credit sequences. From there, AVP-R picks up where the original film left off, following a group of Predators as they return to their homeworld. Because one of the survivors was impregnated with an alien embryo, the resulting creature possesses characteristics of both species, forming a "predalien;" the ensuing struggle to defeat the monster results in the ship crash-landing back on earth.

After a human hunter and his young son discover the vessel, they are impregnated by facehuggers and left to gestate normal aliens. But when a scout from the Predator homeworld discovers that the ship crashed, he departs for earth to track down the creatures and rescue the survivors. What soon ensues is a violent battle for supremacy writ large against the backdrop of a small midwestern town. Soon, a small band of survivors race to evade death and dismemberment at the hands of either race, and escape the town before the incoming military provides its own solution -- namely, to destroy any and all who have come into contact with the alien races.

There's a reason I barely mentioned any of the human characters in the film: They aren't important. Screenwriter Shane Salerno (Armageddon) seems to be fully aware that we care little or nothing about who these people are or what they want, so he provides each of the main characters with only the most threadbare of back stories and then releases them to fend off their infinitely better-equipped, extraterrestrial adversaries. There's a guy named Dallas (Steven Pasquale) who was recently released from prison and who is trying to save his younger brother Ricky (Johnny Lewis) from a similar fate; a soldier named Kelly (Reiko Aylesworth) trying to reconnect with her daughter Molly (Ariel Gade) after returning home from Iraq; and a doofus sheriff named Morales (John Ortiz) who is trying to manage this catastrophe as it escalates out of his control.

Predictably, most viewers will assign these characters numbers rather than names because it's an easier way to keep track of how many of them get killed and how often. But thankfully, directors Colin and Greg Strause keep the story (such as it is) moving at a quick enough pace that deficiencies in character development or general logic mostly go unnoticed. Additionally, they employ a preponderance of practical effects (that is, dudes in rubber suits) to give the creatures tangible dimensions. The growing use of computer-generated effects to shortcut the filmmaking process has in recent years produced the unfortunate but perhaps expected side effect of decreased believability, but the brothers Strause construct enough realistic situations -- and then populate them with actual monsters -- to make sure that the audience feels and reacts as if they exist.

At the same time, this film shares with its predecessor the problem that neither the aliens nor the predators, but the humans are its focus. Admittedly, Salerno and Co. surpass the first AvP by reducing the humans' emotional significance and emphasizing the main predator's one-man battle against the alien hordes, and then later, the predalien -- a wet dream of a final villain for some future videogame spinoff. But the film's unwillingness to simply relegate the humans as collateral damage in this interstellar grudge match shows that somebody somewhere thought at some point we would actually be invested in anything other than the action. Meanwhile, I'm more interested in precisely why the predator is hunting these creatures. Mind you, I'm not questioning motivation in any serious or critical way, but throughout the movie I was far more curious about the predator's "quest" (it isn't coming of age as were the predators in the first film) than the efforts of a few puny humans to escape being brained or otherwise dismembered.

That said, such concerns of extremely minor importance, since the ultimate point is to make money and maintain interest in two franchises which -- even separately -- had long since burned out even their most committed fans. In fact, the film's compilation of reference points, visual cues and familiar sound effects resembles something strikingly different than any real or legitimate compendium of science fiction mythology or lore; rather, it seems more like a ransom note cut and pasted from the remnants of other and presumably better texts. Ultimately, the film is competently executed, occasionally scary and frequently fun to watch, no matter whether you choose to laugh at or with it. All of which means that the greatest accomplishment that may come from Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem is that as far as the future of the series is concerned, this definitely and reassuringly constitutes proof of life.